Allison lost her composure as they drove through town. She’d been unceremoniously tossed onto the bed of the jacked-up truck, lying on her side. Their hands and feet were bound with bailing twine.
Sammy lay beside her, eyes squeezed shut, cheeks wet. She hadn’t said a word since they’d been dragged from the woods and thrown onto the truck. Dark bruising covered her neck.
Drew remained silent as well. His eyes scanned their surroundings, calculating.
Their three captors had left John on the forest floor, bleeding out. They’d laughed as they kicked dirt in his face and watched his life slip away.
The truck drove past the homes of neighbors Allison had known all of her life.
Cars burned.
Houses were destroyed.
Blood covered sidewalks and porches.
Her friends, family, everything, were gone, eradicated in a matter of hours. All the things that had kept her moving, gave her at least a semblance of a life, had been taken away with a single phone call. After these men killed her, it would be as if she had never even existed.
Her back continued to bleed.
Dr. Franklin stood at the front of the bed, turned around to face her. His gaze had been fixed on Allison the entire ride. He’d watched her with the predatory glee of a cat eying a mouse it toyed with.
He licked his lips. “I’ve dreamed of what you would taste like if I licked you.”
Allison felt her gorge rise. She met his eyes for a moment, but had to look away. She’d trusted him with her most private thoughts and feelings. He’d listened to her, helped her. Hearing him say such things filled her with an unbearable desperation.
“I’d pull my cock out after you’d leave the office.” Franklin knelt down in front of her. He smelled of copper and sweat. Small bits of flesh stuck out under his fingernails. “Did you really never see the way I stared at your perky little tits?” He gave her a humorless grin. “No, I don’t believe that. You knew what I wanted, but you were always such a little tease. Well, I’m doing the teasing today.”
The truck jounced, sending Franklin against the side of the bed. He regained his footing and reached toward Allison with the scalpel.
She tried to squirm away from him, but her bound wrists and ankles kept her from moving more than a few inches.
Franklin brushed the blade along the underside of her breast. His head was cocked to the side, his eyes scanning up and down her body. His tongue protruded from the corner of his mouth. “I always wanted you to give me your heart, but I never knew how to go about asking for it. Now, I think I’ll just take it.”
The blade moved between her breasts, and the pressure increased.
Allison felt the scalpel pierce her shirt.
“Hey! Over here, asshole!” Drew hollered, trying to get the doctor’s attention.
Franklin ignored him.
And then the scalpel sliced into her skin.